Player signings thread - Sheffield...

[Doom]

I have to say I'm taken by surprise that we've signed a player straight out of USports, that's usually something you'd expect from the likes of Manchester or Dundee.

Having said that, he has played ECHL with decent numbers and was top scorer in the USports, which isn't to be sniffed at.

As ever a lot will depend on how he suits the larger ice in our league, but on paper I can see him being good for 20 to 25 goals, with possibly an even bigger up side.

These are the sort of signings which I find more exciting than a 35 year old from ICEHL who is rapidly on the down slope.

Regards

Doom

[greeny]

Another piece of the jigsaw put in place,,, i dont look at stats etc, all that i look for is that all these pieces gel as a team when put together on the ice. As always time will tell

[paul johnston]

It's a really interesting signing. I've always thought we should try young, eager, hungry players like this that lower budget teams have been very successful doing at times, and not a bad place to start signkng the league MVP, top points scorer. I think it's nailed on that Balmas will be back with this signing.

Is that 5-6 forwards to reveal/sign yet, still think we need 3-4 high end guys. Panthers are already looking strong, Clan will be better, Giants not revealing anything yet. Devils are a puzzle, look as if they think very physical/high penalty minute takers is the way to go, and Fournier isn't getting any younger.

[Doom]

Is that 5-6 forwards to reveal/sign yet, still think we need 3-4 high end guys. Panthers are already looking strong

I certainly think Panthers will be there or thereabouts next season.

They were arguably the best team in the league in 2025 after they'd picked up Grande and Fossier, both of whom had a huge impact on their squad.

They seem to be retaining all their best players, which suggests they'll probably have the best netminder in the league with a very solid defence in front of him and a possible league MVP in Fossier.

Whether they can upgrade on the players they don't re-sign is another question, because they will have spent big money retaining their better players, so there might not be a lot in the pot to upgrade on those who do leave. They maybe an arena team, but they don't seem to have the bottomless pit of money that Belfast have.

I don't know if it's just a coincidence, but I did wonder last season if +/- stats played a big part in Stewart's recruitment. It's something I usually look at when a player signs and I noticed a lot of the Panthers players last year were high up on their teams +/- from previous seasons.

Next season they've already signed their 1, 2 and 3 from last season in terms of +/-. so Stewart seems to be following a similar pattern.

As you say Paul, we really need some top end guys if we want to compete with the likes of Nottingham next season.

Regards

Doom

[Doom]

If Dowd continues at centre, and Tremblay signed as a centre, presumably that will mean the end of Simpson at the club?
If we have a new 1C, not sure Dowd 2C, Simpson 3C with Tremblay at 4C brings a big enough upgrade down the middle. On Fox's interview sounds like Watling talks still ongoing and not definitely signed elsewhere. So maybe could see-
1C new guy
2C Watling
3C Dowd
4C Tremblay

Could go with that. Rate Tremblay as a good bottom 6 guy, Doom I'd rate him a lot higher/better than Brandt.

Golod - New - Balmas
Juusola - Watling/New - Tait
New - Simpson/Whistle - Dowd
Shudra - Tremblay - Neilson

Any thoughts now ginger after the signing of Gentile?

It would be great if we could retain both Golod and Balmas, although it's gone so quiet on the Golod front I'm thinking he won't be back.

Golod is a real odd one for me. The numbers on his CV suggest a reasonable 2nd or 3rd line player, but no better than that, yet for us he was scoring at 30+ pace and he looked outstanding.

Was it just a case of him having a purple patch in his career or does he just happen to have a game suited to our league? It would be good to find out next season.

Regards

Doom

[ginger]

If Dowd continues at centre, and Tremblay signed as a centre, presumably that will mean the end of Simpson at the club?
If we have a new 1C, not sure Dowd 2C, Simpson 3C with Tremblay at 4C brings a big enough upgrade down the middle. On Fox's interview sounds like Watling talks still ongoing and not definitely signed elsewhere. So maybe could see-
1C new guy
2C Watling
3C Dowd
4C Tremblay

Could go with that. Rate Tremblay as a good bottom 6 guy, Doom I'd rate him a lot higher/better than Brandt.

Golod - New - Balmas
Juusola - Watling/New - Tait
New - Simpson/Whistle - Dowd
Shudra - Tremblay - Neilson

Any thoughts now ginger after the signing of Gentile?

It would be great if we could retain both Golod and Balmas, although it's gone so quiet on the Golod front I'm thinking he won't be back.

Golod is a real odd one for me. The numbers on his CV suggest a reasonable 2nd or 3rd line player, but no better than that, yet for us he was scoring at 30+ pace and he looked outstanding.

Was it just a case of him having a purple patch in his career or does he just happen to have a game suited to our league? It would be good to find out next season.

Regards

Doom

If Golod isn't returning, I'd suggest Gentile essentially replaces his spot. However, if he does actually come back, I could see Tait and Dowd as 3rd line wingers, but both usually play right side.

I think a lot depends on what happens at centre.

I'm terms of Golod, he looked great from his first game against Berlin - said straight away that he'd do some serious damage in EIHL. It's sometimes situational in terms of points totals in any given year, and he's still young so should be improving still year on year. Slovakia is a weird one, some settle in and have good years, but it's notorious for not always being a great experience for players. He's bounced up and down the NA system so sometimes don't always find consistency while that happens.

Allsvenskan is a really difficult league as well to judge as it's a difficult league to score in (Swedish teams even below SHL are very well drilled and structured).

[DiscoRay]

As ever a lot will depend on how he suits the larger ice in our league

Most college rinks are Olympic sized, or very close to. Saint Mary's Ice Arena is one of the very close to Olympic size. Not really an issue any more for players. NHL sized is the exception, and no longer the rule these days.

[Doom]

If Golod isn't returning, I'd suggest Gentile essentially replaces his spot. However, if he does actually come back, I could see Tait and Dowd as 3rd line wingers, but both usually play right side.

I think a lot depends on what happens at centre.

I'm terms of Golod, he looked great from his first game against Berlin - said straight away that he'd do some serious damage in EIHL. It's sometimes situational in terms of points totals in any given year, and he's still young so should be improving still year on year. Slovakia is a weird one, some settle in and have good years, but it's notorious for not always being a great experience for players. He's bounced up and down the NA system so sometimes don't always find consistency while that happens.

Allsvenskan is a really difficult league as well to judge as it's a difficult league to score in (Swedish teams even below SHL are very well drilled and structured).

Thanks ginger, I always enjoy reading your views on team structure.

If we can get both Golod and Balmas to return it would certainly give us plenty of depth in the forwards, which is something Fox seems to like.

I guess time will tell.

Regards

Doom

[Doom]

As ever a lot will depend on how he suits the larger ice in our league

Most college rinks are Olympic sized, or very close to. Saint Mary's Ice Arena is one of the very close to Olympic size. Not really an issue any more for players. NHL sized is the exception, and no longer the rule these days.

That's certainly interesting.

Because of comments I've read in the past I've always assumed North American rinks are generally smaller.

Maybe it isn't the issue I thought it was. I've seen some ECHL players who put up good numbers over there really struggle to have an influence in our league. I just assumed that maybe they'd struggled to adapt to the ice size over here.

You live and learn.

Regards

Doom

[ginger]

If Golod isn't returning, I'd suggest Gentile essentially replaces his spot. However, if he does actually come back, I could see Tait and Dowd as 3rd line wingers, but both usually play right side.

I think a lot depends on what happens at centre.

I'm terms of Golod, he looked great from his first game against Berlin - said straight away that he'd do some serious damage in EIHL. It's sometimes situational in terms of points totals in any given year, and he's still young so should be improving still year on year. Slovakia is a weird one, some settle in and have good years, but it's notorious for not always being a great experience for players. He's bounced up and down the NA system so sometimes don't always find consistency while that happens.

Allsvenskan is a really difficult league as well to judge as it's a difficult league to score in (Swedish teams even below SHL are very well drilled and structured).

Thanks ginger, I always enjoy reading your views on team structure.

If we can get both Golod and Balmas to return it would certainly give us plenty of depth in the forwards, which is something Fox seems to like.

I guess time will tell.

Regards

Doom

Appreciate it, thank you.

Golod and Balmas returning would be really big, especially if can also find a high end centre to round out the top 6. Potentially then see Dowd move to centre on the 2nd line.

Brandon Whistle is still the big question mark as well. As it stands, I can't see how he fits unless Kelly will be 7th D and we go 6 import D again. Other scenarios would be dressing 2 import netminders, or game day rosters rules are changing to allow a 13th fwd/7th D to be dressed.

Definitely lots of possibilities.